7 Best 'Bake At Home' Trader Joe's Finds For Bakery-Level Treats

Trader Joe's is the place you go to pick up unique snacks and prepared meals, but it's probably not the first store you think to visit when you're looking for an especially good grocery store bakery. Unlike other chains, Trader Joe's doesn't have bakeries on site, so you may assume that you can't get the freshly baked goods you might be looking for. However, something the chain is known for is its frozen products, including several bakery items that you can bake at home. This means you get a taste of those warm, fresh-from-the-oven pastries, breads, and desserts you love, without having to make a separate trip to another grocery store (or learn how to bake these items from scratch).

As a (probably too frequent) Trader Joe's shopper, I've tried several of these products myself, and I'm here to give you the 411 on the ones I think are worth stocking up on. Looking for a basic bread you can pair with just about anything? This list has you covered. What about a baked treat you can serve alongside a glass of wine at your next get-together? You'll find something for that kind of culinary occasion, too. Sure, Trader Joe's might be missing that standard grocery store bakery, but it partially makes up for it with these items.

There's something so enjoyable about starting your day with a simple croissant and an espresso for a sweet, light breakfast. It feels decadent, but not too filling, like you're getting a treat first thing in the morning. But it might not make sense for you to head to a bakery on your way to work, and croissants can start to taste stale quickly, so there's a good chance you don't want to just buy a bunch of ready-made pastries that sit on your counter for a week. The solution is Trader Joe's Mini Croissants. What I love about these is that they take basically no work to prep — you don't even have to thaw them. Just throw them in the oven, and they'll be nice and hot within a few minutes.

Surprisingly, I find that these taste a lot fresher than other grocery store bakery croissants I've had in the past, and they're truly at their best when they're still quite hot. That's the best time to add some butter to them so it melts evenly over the whole pastry. Just remember that these are mini croissants, so you might want to eat two or three at a time to really get your fill if you're used to a more decadent bakery croissant.

In my home, Trader Joe's Simit Turkish Sesame Bread is a basically weekly purchase. My husband is Turkish and likes to eat simit with breakfast, and before Trader Joe's dropped this product, we were buying the frozen bread from our local Turkish market. When we saw Trader Joe's simit, we decided to give it a try, assuming that it wouldn't be very good because the price point was so low. However, we discovered that it tastes pretty similar to the simit we were getting at the Turkish market, and for significantly less than we were paying there. Now, does it taste like the fresh homemade you get from an actual bakery in Türkiye? No, of course not. But that's true of basically all the frozen bakery items on this list. As a convenient, frozen product, it's a solid bake at home option at Trader Joe's.

For the uninitiated, simit is a sesame-encrusted ring of bread that's often eaten with Turkish breakfast, dipped into eggs or sauces, or smeared with jam and butter. This specific take on it is soft on the inside and nice and crispy on the exterior, featuring the unique nuttiness that only sesame seeds can provide. Although I personally do not feel like I have the cultural legitimacy to deem this simit decent or not, I'll take my husband's continued purchase of the product as a vote in favor of it.

There are few pastries I love as much as a good scone. They tend to be sweet, but not too sweet, with a crumbly texture that admittedly makes them somewhat messy to eat, but also provides a nice accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee. Add fruit like blueberries to the mix, and you have a pastry that's impossible not to love. If you're dedicated to making your blueberry scones from scratch, you can always give our blueberry scone recipe a try, but on days when you don't feel like spending that much time in the kitchen, Trader Joe's Blueberry Scones have you covered instead.

These scones are smaller than the variety you might see at an actual bakery, but I love that, since you get more of a reasonably-sized snack if you just want a little something to munch on. And if you're feeling hungrier? Just make two or three to create a more substantial snack or light breakfast. I love that these scones aren't too sweet and that they actually pack a decent number of blueberries for that fruity kick that makes every bite so much more delicious than a plain scone. Plus, it's an easy dish to include in your spread when you plan an elegant afternoon tea at your home.

I ranked store-bought baguettes from worst to best, and the number two spot on the list went to Trader Joe's Mini French Baguettes. Truthfully, I didn't expect them to be very good, considering their size and the fact that they're frozen. But once I bit into one and realized how great the texture is, I was sold. These baguettes have a mild sweetness and unexpected bounciness to them, with an airy texture that's not as extreme as it is in crunchy baguettes, but is nonetheless really pleasant. Keep them in the oven for long enough, and they also take on a crispy exterior, while the inside still stays soft. And you know how baguettes and other kinds of bakery fresh breads can often go bad before you get the chance to eat them all? Because you're keeping these baguettes frozen until you're ready to use them, you won't run into that problem here.

I think the main issue with these baguettes is the fact that they have limited applications. They really are quite small, so it's not like you can use them for a sandwich or anything that would require a lot of space and weight. But as a side of eggs in the morning, or as a vehicle for a simple spread of salted butter and jam? They're perfect.

Anyone who's craving a plain croissant can always opt for the mini variety found at Trader Joe's. But not everyone wants a plain croissant — some of us require more flavor and sweetness in our lives. If you're that kind of a person, then TJ's Chocolate Croissants are what you've been waiting for. I didn't think that an at-home chocolate croissant could taste so similar to a fresher version of the treat, but this product really does. Does it take a bit more work than some of the other items on this list? Sure, since you have to let the croissants proof overnight before baking them in the morning. But when you consider how tricky it can be to make a chocolate croissant from scratch, that extra few minutes of work feels negligible here.

After this pastry is baked, you'll discover a flaky exterior and rich, warm chocolate inside. I think it should be a requirement to enjoy these croissants with black coffee, which I feel helps counteract the sweetness you find in the pastry itself. No matter what you decide to pair your chocolate croissants with, though, you're in for a treat.

Trader Joe's has a surprising number of frozen appetizers to choose from, which can really make party planning a breeze. Instead of doing the tedious work of preparing various small bites for your guests, you can just pop a few appetizers in the oven and wait for them to bake, while doing whatever else you need to do to prepare. But if you want to get the best Trader Joe's frozen appetizer of them all, look no further than the chain's Pastry Bites with Feta Cheese and Caramelized Onions. The layers of pastry get nice and flaky, while the filling offers the perfect combo of sweet and savory flavors (leaning toward the more savory end of the spectrum). The onions taste legitimately caramelized, while the feta cheese offers a tasty pop of saltiness. If you're feeling adventurous, you can also top them off with a drizzle of hot honey to play up that sweetness even more.

These pastry bites are excellent to serve at parties where guests might be standing up and holding drinks, since you really can eat them in just one or two bites. Just make sure to serve them with napkins, as the pastry can get a bit crumbly. Who knew that a frozen Trader Joe's product could feel so elevated?

Now you know that Trader Joe's is a great place to find ready-to-bake scones, baguettes, croissants, and beyond. But sometimes, you go to a bakery to get something a bit more indulgent — and TJ's has you covered on that front as well. Enter the chain grocer's Chocolate Lava Cakes. Technically, the directions instruct you to microwave these, although the box also details directions for a conventional oven if you prefer. Whichever cooking method you choose, you're going to end up with two deliciously-rich chocolate cakes, filled with a gooey, runny ganache that really takes things to the next level of decadence. That's why it's on our list of the best Trader Joe's desserts. The cakes come in a two-pack, making it the perfect pick for an at-home date night when you're looking for something sweet.

Although I'm sure you could enjoy these lava cakes at any time of the year, I think they're best in the winter. That's when I'm personally craving such intense richness, and the dessert's warmth makes them taste extra cozy when it's cold out. Just make sure that you don't wait too long to eat them after they're done cooking to ensure they're warm enough and the ganache is the right texture (and check them before digging in to ensure that they're not too hot, either).

I based these picks on my own experiences with Trader Joe's bake at home products. I picked items that I've enjoyed personally that I think have a nice texture (especially considering that they're not fresh) and a well-balanced flavor that, if not comparable to a freshly baked version of the same thing, is at least somewhat close. When I've tried these items, I've baked them according to package instructions.